Monday, April 17, 2017

GREENWOOD, S.C. —A Greenwood pilot has been named the 2016 Mercy Flight Southeast "Pilot of the Year" for the South Carolina region, Mercy Flight officials said.Broadus "Bo" Bowman, a Mercy Flight Southeast volunteer pilot since 2013, was recently awarded with the honor for the second year in a row.Bowman is a Greenwood resident. He is one of more than 650 volunteer pilots in the Southeast who donate their time, personal aircraft and fuel to help Mercy Flight Southeast passengers get to far-from-home medical care.Approximately 2,500 Mercy Flight Southeast flights are coordinated each year. Bowman, who flies a Piper airplane out of Greenwood County Airport, singed up to fly 23 missions last year.Bowman was honored at the Mercy Flight Southeast Pilot Awards Gala held April 7, at the River Ranch Resort and Airport (2RR) in River Ranch, Florida.The "Pilot of the Year" honor is based on 14 criteria that include flying and sometimes driving sick passengers, answering last minute transportation requests that may come during the night, and flying round trip flights and waiting during the patient's appointment."Bo is so dedicated to ensuring passengers receive the medical care they need and the reward for his generosity is often just a smile or hug. We are humbled by his kindness and thrilled to honor him," said Steve Purello, volunteer pilot and CEO of Mercy Flight Southeast, based in Leesburg, Florida.For more information about Mercy Flight Southeast, click here.Mercy Flight Southeast, Inc. is a non-profit volunteer pilot organization that provides free air transportation throughout the Southeast by private aircraft to distant medical facilities when commercial air service is not available, impractical or simply not affordable. Mercy Flight Southeast is a member of Air Charity Network, an association of charitable aviation organizations comprised of more than 7,500 pilots and who represent over 90% of all charitable non-emergency flights flown in the nation. Mercy Flight Southeast has won the seal of approval from Independent Charities of America recognizing Mercy Flight Southeast as a good steward of the funds it generates from the public. Original aticle can be found here: http://www.wyff4.com